Ten Steps to Pesticide-free Parks: How to Create Healthy Public Spaces in Your Community
Arbor Lodge is one of Portland, Oregon’s first pesticide-free parks.
www.pesticide.org
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Table of Contents
Introduction: Ten Steps To Pesticide-free Parks…2
1. Connect With Others Who Share Your Interest In Pesticide-free Parks…3
2. Set Goals And Clarify What The Group Wants…4
3. Identify And Meet With Parks Staff To Measure Support For Your Goals…5
4. Gather More Support From The Community To Gain Visibility…6
5. Launch A Campaign To Influence The Decision Makers …7
6. Once The Program Concept Is Approved, Work With Parks Staff To Design A Program That Has Community And Agency Support…9
7. Put The Program In Writing…10
8. Train and Support Your Program Volunteers…11
9. Plan A Community Event With Parks Staff To Kick Off The Program And Celebrate!...12
10. Moving Forward With Your Program…13
Appendix A-J …15
1 Introduction: Ten Steps to Pesticide-free Parks The pesticide-free parks movement is growing! People want places they can go with their children and pets where they won’t be exposed to pesticides. There are new pesticide-free parks programs sprouting up all over the northwest! Just five years ago, only a few cities in the northwest had established pesticide-free parks programs. Now at least 17 cities in the northwest have parks that are managed without the use of any pesticides — including insecticides, fungicides and herbicides. As more and more community members become interested in pesticide-free public spaces, parks departments are responding by designating parks where vegetation is managed without herbicides. Weeds in these parks are managed with a variety of techniques including hand pulling, flame weeding, and mulching by parks staff or volunteers. In addition to reducing the pesticides used in public spaces, pesticide-free parks serve as an educational model of pesticide-free practices people can use in their own homes and gardens while still managing weeds.
Are you ready for pesticide-free parks in your community? Are you ready to work with parks staff to establish places where you can go with your children and pets where you won’t be exposed to pesticides? The process takes a firm commitment from dedicated individuals but is well worth the effort. In this report, the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) has outlined 10 steps you can take to create a pesticide-free parks program in your community.
Kids and pets can enjoy pesticide-free parks without exposure to pesticides.
2 1. CONNECT WITH OTHERS WHO SHARE YOUR INTEREST IN PESTICIDE-FREE PARKS Identify people in your community who are ready to take a leadership role in creating a pesticide-free parks program by having a booth at community events, talking with people who use the park, thinking of your own friends, or connecting with a school or church near a park you have in mind. Create a committee or group of a few people who are ready to take leadership on the issue. These people might be willing to attend meetings with city staff, connect with neighborhood associations, coordinate a kickoff event, or do outreach at other local events. Find a leadership role that fits each person. Also, identify people who aren’t necessarily leaders, but who are willing to help with the effort. These people can help by working at outreach events, distributing petitions in support of pesticide-free parks, preparing mailings or distributing flyers. Once the parks are designated pesticide-free, they can also help by pulling weeds, if this is needed.
This volunteer takes a break to appreciate her pesticide-free park.
3 2. SET GOALS AND CLARIFY WHAT THE GROUP WANTS Gather with your group of leaders to get clarity on what the group wants. Will you start with a few pesticide-free parks or have the city declare all parks as pesticide-free zones? NCAP recommends starting small for success and adding more parks in time. Do you have a particular park or parks in mind? Small neighborhood parks that are used by kids are a great starting point. Large parks with large natural areas and/or invasive species can be difficult to manage with volunteer efforts or by parks staff with limited resources. Parks with ball fields can also be difficult to manage because these large open areas will need to be weeded by hand.
Volunteers using hand tools maintain this pesticide-free ball field.
Will you offer to recruit and engage volunteers, or will you ask the parks staff to manage the parks without pesticides using their staff resources? There are pros and cons to both ways. When parks employees manage the parks, they take more ownership for the program. However, many parks departments don’t currently have the resources to have staff manage weeds without pesticides, so engaging volunteers can be a good solution. Engaging volunteers involves
4 people in their parks and encourages community service, but it also takes a lot of time to recruit and supervise people who are willing to pull weeds in the parks. NCAP recommends starting with a goal of having parks staff maintain the park(s), but if this isn’t feasible, you may want to offer to recruit and/or coordinate volunteers who will help with weeding.
3. IDENTIFY AND MEET WITH PARKS STAFF TO MEASURE SUPPORT FOR YOUR GOALS Find out who would be responsible for implementing a pesticide-free parks program within the parks department and contact them to set up a meeting. This will usually be the parks director in a smaller city or the parks maintenance manager in a larger city. It’s important to have more than one community member attend this meeting so the person you’re meeting with understands this is not a one-person effort, but that a large part of the community wants pesticide-free parks. Keep the group at this first meeting small so you don’t overwhelm the staff person you are meeting with, as s/he may be defensive. Approach this meeting with a friendly attitude to learn more about whom you will be working with.
Remember, the term “pesticides” includes herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides. Most parks departments in the northwest don’t use insecticides or fungicides, so the focus of this conversation will be focused on herbicides and controlling weeds.
The primary goal of this first meeting is to determine the level of support you have from the parks department. Is the staff opposed or receptive to the idea of implementing a pesticide-free parks program? If staff members aren’t supportive, they will need some convincing, so providing information and examples will be helpful. Weeds in this shrub bed are controlled with mulch made of wood chips.
5 NCAP has created several reports that will be useful in educating and encouraging the parks department’s participation. For example, a report titled, “Pesticide-free Parks: It’s Time!” includes convincing and important reasons to establish a pesticide-free parks program. Providing examples will help parks staff to understand that the movement is growing and will encourage them to join. The second goal of this meeting is to learn who ultimately makes the decision about establishing pesticide-free parks. Is this the parks director, the parks maintenance manager, the parks board, or the city council? A third goal for the meeting is to determine what is needed to establish a program. Will you need to demonstrate that the community is supportive? If so, let the staff you are meeting with know you’ll be gathering petition signatures to provide to the person or elected body who will make the decision. Find out if they would like you to provide community input about which parks could be good starting points.
4. GATHER MORE SUPPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY TO GAIN VISIBILITY
In order to demonstrate support for the program, gather names of people who are supportive of pesticide-free parks. You can use the sample petition in Appendix A. Petitions are a great way to demonstrate to decision-makers that the community wants pesticide-free parks. They are also a great way to get input about which parks people would most like to see designated pesticide- NCAP’s Pesticide-free Parks Program free. Another way to gather input Coordinator, Megan Kemple, talks with the public at an outreach event to gather support at community events is to set up an for Portland’s pesticide-free parks program. easel with a map of all of the city parks. Ask people to place a
6 colored pushpin on the park they would most like to see designated pesticide- free. This can give you a good visual idea of which parks are a priority. Gather names of people who want to help with this effort. You can recruit volunteers at local community events such as Earth Day celebrations or natural living festivals. Circulate volunteer sign-up sheets to neighbors or friends. Make an announcement or presentation at a neighborhood association meeting and/or write an article for the neighborhood newsletter. You can use the sign-up sheets in Appendix B to gather names and contact information for these new volunteers. These people can help by distributing petitions, distributing flyers, writing letters, sending emails or making phone calls to whoever will make the decision to establish a program, or in the case of some volunteer-run programs, they may help by pulling weeds in the parks. You might also want to gather the support and/or endorsement of influential individuals such as physicians, city councilors, or business owners. As respected community members, these folks can add legitimacy to your effort and show a broader base of support.
5. LAUNCH A CAMPAIGN TO INFLUENCE THE DECISIONMAKERS
Once you’ve determined who has the authority to make this decision, go through the process required by the city to create a new program. This might mean meeting with parks staff again. You can provide parks staff with copies of any petition signatures or volunteer names you’ve gathered. You may need to address barriers the staff has identified or any concerns they have about the program. The city might ask for information about the costs of creating such a program. You’ll find a document in Appendix C with information about potential increases in cost for parks that are maintained without the use of pesticides. Providing contact information for parks managers in other cities that have implemented pesticide-free parks programs may be helpful. You can send out an email message or postcard to your supporters asking people to contact decision-makers expressing their support for the program. Be
7 sure to ask community members to send you a copy of their communications so you know what’s being said. See a sample letter in Appendix D. You may have the opportunity to testify in front of city council or one of its appointed bodies. Sample testimony for a city council meeting is included in Appendix E. Your group may want to identify the key points to make and assign them to members of the group who are the best messengers for those points. You may want to lobby the city council ahead of time so you know which councilors support the proposal and which do not. Those who are already in support or who are strongly opposed don’t need a lot of attention. However, those who are undecided could be lobbied and convinced that this is an important issue that concerns the community. Supportive councilors might be able to give advice about how to effectively work with the city council.
Pesticide-free Parks activists receive the Rachel Carson Award for their commitment to Portland’s pesticide- free parks program.
Consider generating some media to draw attention to the issue of pesticide-free parks in your community. Letters to the editor are easy and can be especially effective. Encourage people to write a letter to the editor, expressing support for the program. An article titled, “Writing an Effective Letter to the Editor,” is available from NCAP’s website at: www.pesticide.org. Think about your goal and how you can use the media to meet your goals. For example, an effective letter to the editor might end with “I hope the city council will vote to implement a pesticide-free parks program at the meeting in April. The health of
8 our community depends upon it.” If you are lobbying other decisionmakers who are not parks staff, do your best to involve parks staff so they feel a part of the process and not as though the program was forced upon them. The success of your program in the long term depends upon the support of the parks staff.
6. ONCE THE PROGRAM CONCEPT IS APPROVED, WORK WITH PARKS STAFF TO DESIGN A PROGRAM THAT HAS COMMUNITY AND AGENCY SUPPORT
This is a time to check in with parks employees and determine what else is needed to move forward with creating a program. You may need to address barriers they have identified or concerns they have about the program. Work to agree on a process and timeline for implementing the program.
Here are some questions that you and parks staff will need to answer:
What kind of parks shall we start with?
Small neighborhood parks that are used by kids are a great starting point. Large parks with large natural areas and/or invasive species can be difficult to manage with volunteer efforts or by parks staff with limited resources. Parks with ball fields can also be difficult to manage because these large open areas will need to be weeded by hand. How many parks shall we start with?
NCAP recommends starting small for success and adding more parks in time. Which parks shall we designate? If petition signers voted for their favorite park, you can use this data to select your parks. Which products will and won’t be allowed? Reach an agreement with parks staff. Most parks departments in the northwest don’t use insecticides or fungicides, so this discussion will mainly be focused on which herbicides are
9 allowed and which aren’t. In some programs, no weed control products of any kind are allowed. In other programs, no “registered” pesticide products are allowed. And in other programs, only organically approved products are allowed. NCAP recommends being flexible. Parks staff may be more likely to take on the maintenance if they have the flexibility to use organically approved products. Some programs have also included emergency exceptions. See Appendix F for an example of exception language. Who will manage weeds in the parks? Will parks staff be responsible for maintaining the parks without pesticides or will volunteers be responsible for replacing the use of pesticides (specifically weed killers) with people power? Some pros and cons of volunteer-run programs are explored on page 5.
How will weeds be managed? Will weeds be managed by hand? What kind of equipment will be used?
What kind of signage will be posted? Posting a sign that the park is designated pesticide-free is important for community visibility and education, and it gives credit The sign was created by to the parks staff for implementing this Portland Parks and Recreation important program. and installed in their parks.
7. PUT THE PROGRAM IN WRITING Once you’ve answered the questions in step 6, work with the parks staff to write up an agreement stating that the parks will be maintained without the use of pesticides. Be sure to reach an agreement with parks staff about how the program will be implemented. A sample agreement between a community group and a parks department is included in Appendix G. If your group has offered to provide services, you can outline you responsibilities and the responsibilities of the parks staff in this agreement.
10 Once you are ready to implement the program, parks staff will need to make a formal decision to designate specific parks pesticide- free and notify maintenance workers that they cannot apply pesticides in these parks. Signage should be installed in the pesticide-free parks at this time, or soon after.
This sign post and tree well were mulched to control weeds after Arbor Lodge Park was designated pesticide-free.
8. TRAIN AND SUPPORT YOUR PROGRAM VOLUNTEERS
If volunteers will be replacing the use of pesticides with people power in your parks, you might consider holding monthly work parties. A sample flyer for pesticide-free parks work parties is included in Appendix H. Consider designating a “key volunteer” for each park. This person is responsible for attending work parties and giving other volunteers instruction. Ideally, the parks department will provide tools. Volunteers who operate power tools, such as flame weeders, will probably require extra training. Consider creating a maintenance handbook for volunteers that provides clear parks maintenance standards with descriptions and photographs, if possible.
11 A successful volunteer program requires reminder emails and phone calls about upcoming volunteer events. Providing snacks for and appreciating your volunteers is important.
Volunteers spread mulch around tree This volunteer spreads mulch wells to control weeds in Arbor Lodge around newly planted native plants Park in Portland. to control weeds.
9. PLAN A COMMUNITY EVENT WITH PARKS STAFF TO KICK OFF THE PROGRAM
AND CELEBRATE!
Celebrate the new program by holding a kick-off event. This celebration might include organic snacks, a native plant giveaway, demonstrations of pesticide- free techniques and information about the new pesticide-free parks program. Notify community members who have expressed interest or support for the program via email or with a postcard announcement. Post an announcement to your local natural food store’s newsletter or bulletin board. A sample kick-off celebration announcement is in Appendix I. Contact your local newspaper(s), radio and television stations to secure media coverage for your new program. Media coverage is extremely important for building community interest in the program and visibility. Many public radio stations host community event calendars on their website. A sample news release is in Appendix J.
12 NCAP staff and members gather at a Pesticide-free Parks Celebration at Lair Hill Park in Portland.
10. MOVING FORWARD WITH YOUR
PROGRAM
Once your program is in place, stay in touch with parks staff and periodically evaluate how the program is going. Schedule periodic check-ins. Regular evaluation of the program will ensure the problems are addressed and adjustments are made, if necessary. If a decisionmaking body authorized the program, be sure to keep its members informed and updated on how things are going. If the program is a pilot or trial project, written evaluation will be helpful when it comes time to make the program permanent. If things are going well after the first year, consider expanding the program to include more parks. Set up another meeting with parks staff. Determine whether parks staff is supportive of expanding the program and what will be needed to make this happen. This is also a time to identify any barriers to expanding the program, such as increased costs, concerns about aesthetics or safety issues. Once you’ve identified what is needed to expand the program, identify who will move forward with each of these tasks and create a timeline.
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Parks Commissioner Dan Saltzman announces the success and expansion of Portland’s pesticide- free parks program at NCAP’s 30th Anniversary Celebration.
NCAP IS A RESOURCE FOR YOU
The Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP) can help your group to strategize and create a plan. We may also be able to email our members and other contacts in your city when your efforts are new to help you gather support.
NCAP wants this resource to be useful for groups that are working to establish pesticide-free parks. We welcome your feedback on the steps that worked well and where we could improve the information here. We especially want to know about your experiences establishing pesticide-free parks. Contact us at 541.344.5044 or email us at [email protected]. You are making a difference! Thank you for your commitment to creating a pesticide-free world!
14 Appendix A I want my neighborhood park to be
pesticide-free! I can tolerate weeds.
Name______
Address______
Phone______Email ______
My neighborhood park is______
Name______
Address______
Phone______Email ______
My neighborhood park is______
Name______
Address______
Phone______Email ______
My neighborhood park is______
Name______
Address______
Phone______Email ______
My neighborhood park is______
15 Appendix B
Volunteer Sign-up Sheet.
Name______
Address______
Phone______Email ______
I can help with: ______
Name______
Address______
Phone______Email ______
I can help with: ______
Name______
Address______
Phone______Email ______
I can help with: ______
Name______
Address______
Phone______Email ______
I can help with: ______
16 Appendix C
Potential Increase in Costs for Pesticide-free Programs
Each interested parks department will need to determine the cost of these budget items for its own department.
SAVINGS:
Staff time to apply pesticides (mostly herbicides) in the parks
Cost of the herbicide product